St Barnabas signs contract with Henry Willis & Sons Ltd Organ Builders

A new chapter in the musical life of St Barnabas Jericho has begun, and we are delighted to announce that after more than 5 years of fundraising and planning, the PCC has signed a contract with Henry Willis & Sons Ltd. Organ Builders of Liverpool to build and install the new organ for St Barnabas. 

The instrument will be extra special: because it will use original Willis pipes crafted in the Victorian period from two previous instruments - the 1876 'Father' Willis organ from Bargeddie Church in Lanarkshire (a beautiful Church now sadly closed), and the surviving pipes from the 1877 Father Willis organ of the former St Paul’s Bow Common, London. Organ building is a specialist and refined business, but without any delay at all, the skills of the master craftsmen have already been employed to begin the design and construction of the parts of the organ which need to be made from scratch or refashioned. 

The majority of the work so far as been focussed on restoring the bellows that distribute pressurised air and the “soundboards". Soundboards are the heart of the organ, (the DNA of the instrument if you like). A soundboard is an ingenious mechanism that connects the actions of the player at the keyboard to the wooden and metal pipes that create the sound and the flow of air that makes them speak. Original Victorian-era mahogany has been used. This is a beautiful and expensive wood known for its strength and longevity.

For now most of the work to build our organ is being done in the factory in Liverpool. The first indication in St Barnabas that a new organ is on the horizon will be when the pipes, soundboards and woodwork from the current (non-functioning) organ will be taken away - the present 1976 console and organ case will be restored, remodelled and incorporated in the new project and will return to us on completion . Scaffolding will be installed probably just after Christmas for the removal operation. 

This is an exciting and long-awaited project, which we now have adequate finances to cover: thanks to all our donors and benefactors who have given so generously. 

We will issue updates as and when new stages of the project emerge, so watch this space.

From Fr Christopher and the Organ Committee.